U.S. Pat. No. 5,310,352, which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety, discloses an electrical connector for connection to a substrate comprising an interposer connector. The known electrical connector includes a rotatable shaft for locking the electrical connector to a substrate. The shaft includes outwardly extending cam posts which slidingly interface with a camming plate on the substrate. As the shaft is rotated, the camming posts slidingly engage cam surfaces on the camming plate, thereby drawing the electrical connector and the substrate together. Electrical connector subassemblies within the electrical connector housing are provided with receptacle contacts for receiving pin contacts. The known electrical connector further includes conductive faces for engaging conductive contacts formed on the interposer, thereby making electrical interconnections. The shaft is axially spring biased by Belleville springs for allowing the shaft to be axially returned to its unlatched state. Additionally, U.S. Pat. No. 5,308,252, which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety, discloses an interposer connector and contact element therefor which is used as the interposer of U.S. Pat. No. 5,310,352.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,869,680 discloses a rotatable shaft for joining a printed circuit board to an electrical connector. The rotatable shafts disclosed therein include spring biased balls disposed within bores which have been made in the shafts in a direction transverse to the longitudinal axis of the shafts. One set of balls is used to biasingly depress the printed circuit board against a metal frame of the housing for heat transfer purposes, and a second set of balls is used as a detent mechanism for maintaining the shaft in its locked, fully advanced position. However, this known connector uses many parts, requires bores in the shaft, and assembling the springs and balls into the bores is expensive and time consuming.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,026,623 includes a rotatable shaft for joining an electrical connector to an electrical component. Attached to the shaft is a camming member which cams a portion of the electrical connector housing so that electrical contacts are forced into electrical contact. No latch detent mechanism is disclosed therein so that the shaft may be unintentionally rotated from its unlocked position by vibration acting on the connector.
In order to overcome the deficiencies of the prior connectors, the present invention provides an electrical connector with a rotatable shaft therein, which shaft is connected to a detent/stop locking mechanism for retaining the shaft in a fully retracted, unmated condition. The electrical connector of the present invention, however, minimizes the number of parts required, is easy to manufacture, and is inexpensive to assemble. Moreover, the detent mechanism provides a reliable and robust means of latching the shaft in place in its retracted position. Additionally, stop edges are adapted to prevent over travel or over torquing of the shaft during application of a torque to the shaft.